Can someone help out the ironman newbies?

Triathlon Forum
1

There was a thread on this but I can’t find it. Sounds like a lot of us are doing our first ironman this year. What is different than a usual triathlon?

I noticed they give out gatorade bottles instead of water bottles. What size are they? Is water the same way (i.e. not in a bike bottle?) Is it hard to get two bottles at on aid station? Will they stay put in your usual cages? How do the transition bags work? Does a lot of the stuff get lost or can you get your bags back afterwards usually?

A play by play of how the transition bags works and getting your bike works would be great (it sounds like you don’t actually find anything yourself?)

Thanks,
dan
www.aiatriathlon.com

2

Hey dude…

The gatorade bottles they give out are the ones with the twist cap on the top (they prep them so that you don’t have to undo the cap and take the little foil thingy off). Those will fit, albeit a little loosely in most water bottle holders, although angled ones on the back may launch them somewhat easily. Water is the same way…not in a normal bike water bottle. Both the water and the gatorade fit in my Tacx Tao waterbottle holders, but they do rattle around a bit. It is easy to get 2 bottles of fluid and a banana at any aid station on the bike. Slow down to about 10-12 mph and its cake.

The transition bags are given to you when you check in at registration, and you get the following bags:

-Swim to bike
-Bike to run
-Bike special needs
-Run special needs
-Morning bag

You also get a single page full of decals of your race number. You apply your number to all of the transition bags, your helmet, and your bike. On the day before the race (normally Saturday), you check in your bike and the swim to bike and bike to run bags. There are racks with numbers on them where you hang your bags, or possibly a big room in a convention center (a al Wisconsin, where transition in inside Monona Terrace, and your bags are in big ballrooms, lined up on the floor in numerical order in between signs with race numbers so you know where your bag is).

The morning of the race, once you get changed into you wetsuit, you put all of your stuff not going with you to the swim start into your morning bag, and hand that in. You also hand off your special needs bags race morning. At IMLP, you just hung your morning bag next to your transition bags on the rack, at Wisconsin you hand them off at the bottom of the helix and they bring them up to the ballroom later.

I would expect to get everything back except for anything in the special needs bags. Assume that anything you put in those is gone forever. At Wisconsin they bring the special needs bags back from the course, but they are out of order and just dumped on the ground in a big heap with loads of people pawing through them. I looked through the pile for about 20 minutes and came across bags within 1 number of mine and never found my bags.

As you come out of the swim, you will run to your rack and get your bag (or into the ballroom and find your bag on the ground) and then into a tent to change or into another room. From there you just hand your transition bag (now stuffed with your swim stuff) to a volunteer, and they will put that bag back onto the rack or into the room as you head for your bike. There are volunteers in the bike corral, and if you yell out your race number, generally a volunteer will have it for you to grab as you run for the exit. You may have to go grab it yourself.

Coming into T-2, there will be volunteers who will grab your bike and you won’t even enter the bike corral. Transition bag dance is the same as before, except at Wisconsin, where you go into a different room to grab your bike to run bag. Then its out the door and on the run.

Hope this helps…I know it can be confusing the first time…

Spot

3

Now the next question, do most people wear tri suits when doing an IM or do they get out of the swim and strip down and put on bike shorts, then strip down and put on running shorts? So that would lead to a question the the tents, are they co-ed or not?

4

Here you go.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1400530;search_string=transition;#1400530

5

When I did IMFL, I chose to do the whole race in my tri-suit. The changing tents, however, were segregated by gender, so I could have changed if I had wished to do so.

6

I just did my first IM (LP) and the answers above are right on. I was probably just as nervous as you are about all the logistics, but once I was there and starting seeing how it was all set out and talked to people, it all just fell into place for me. It seems really confusing, but it’s not any more difficult than any other race - and actually easier in some respects because it’s all really well laid out and there will be tons of volunteers guiding you in the right direction, telling you what to do, etc.

7

Hey Dan,

It may sound obvious, but I always print a copy of the athlete guide and take it with me to the race. At least for IMC and IMAZ, it had all of the schedules and most of the procedures in it. I would also highly suggest going to one of the prerace meetings as well.

-David

8

At least in the girlie tent, almost all of us took bathing suits off and wore actual bike shorts, then stripped those off for either regular tri-shorts or running shorts.

I knew I wanted to be comfy on that long bike ride, so I went with bike shorts. Although, I also had a dreadfully long first transition… :slight_smile:

9

David, good idea. I forgot about that.

Thanks again for taking me on that ride. It was a huge confidence builder. I appreciated you waiting up for me.

I will post some pics as soon as my friend sends me them of my rides in colorado.

Dan
www.aiatriathlon.com

10

Spot, thanks a lot for that. One other question: can you put your nutrition on the bike the morning of or do you need to do that the day before when you check in? Can you fill your tires?

Thanks again,
dan
www.aiatriathlon.com

11

You can have access to everything the morning of. You just can’t put cycling shoes or your helmet on your bike. But you can fill your bottles and stuff morning of, and you will have access to your gear bags morning of the race too. There should be bike mechanics throughout transition with pumps helping those who forgot their pump too.

12

This thread may help as well:

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1386294;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread
.

13

thanks cathy, good link.

Dan
www.aiatriathlon.com

14

Thanks Patrick. Thank you so much for your hospitality as I rode the course. i am really glad I rode it to get my expectations in check! wow, it’s a very beautiful and very challenging course. the hills werent that bad but it was quite windy and the road surface wasn’t uncomfortable but it did slow you down quite a bit. I look forward to seeing you at the race! You’ll be done a few hours before me I’m sure.

Dan
www.aiatriathlon.com

15

Thanks for the link…helpful special needs tips.

Dan
www.aiatriathlon.com

16

Not even close, you’ll be drinking beer by the time I get off the bike. I hear you got to meet the soon-to-be missus too.

17

Please go to the prerace meeting and listen carefully. In a race with 2000 people, being mindful of bike positioning is as much a matter of safety as is is one of fairness (I think it is, anyway).

And I think you’ll also find that the officials are a little more proactive than at your local-yokel tris (hell, I don’t even see officials at most of my local races); and they do enforce the rules - maybe not consistently, but I did see people with slashes through their numbers at Lake Placid.

18

yes sir. i was quite impressed as she was so nice.

We’ll see what happens when the day unfolds. I just want to cross the line.

Dan
www.aiatriathlon.com

19

She is only that way to everyone but me… :slight_smile: See you in a few weeks.